[ti:Australian Navy Rescues Rower Crossing Pacific from California]
[al:As It Is]
[ar:VOA]
[dt:2025-03-12]
[by:www.voase.cn]
[00:00.00]A Lithuanian rower attempting to cross the Pacific Ocean has been rescued by an Australian warship after hitting stormy waters off the coast of Queensland state.
[00:15.50]Royal Australian Navy officer Justin Jones said in a statement that Aurimas Mockus was brought aboard the warship on March 3.
[00:27.45]The 44-year-old adventurer began his trip alone in October from San Diego, California. 
[00:36.40]He made it to within 740 kilometers of Australia's mainland before running into a tropical cyclone.
[00:46.70]Australia's Maritime Safety Authority organized the rescue. 
[00:51.42]It said the enclosed boat that Mockus traveled in was mostly destroyed by the powerful waters.
[00:59.89]He was only able to recover a few personal belongings from the boat.
[01:06.09]Mockus was stranded for three days in the Coral Sea east of Queensland's coastal city of Mackay.
[01:14.73]His goal was to make it from California to the Australian state's capital, Brisbane. 
[01:21.22]The whole distance is about 12,000 kilometers.
[01:26.72]The rower turned on an emergency signal while experiencing stormy seas fueled by 80-kilometer-per-hour winds caused by Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
[01:39.74]That led to rescuers establishing radio contact with Mockus. Mockus reported he was "fatigued," the team said.
[01:50.43]Navy officials said the warship was taking Mockus to Sydney in New South Wales.
[01:58.99]Rowers traveling by themselves have crossed the Pacific Ocean nonstop in the past. 
[02:06.13]Mockus was attempting to become one of the few to cross the sea alone and without stopping.
[02:13.64]Peter Bird of Britain became the first to do so in 1983. 
[02:18.75]He rowed from San Francisco and was pulled behind another boat for the last 48 kilometers to the Australian mainland.
[02:30.31]Even though he did not complete the whole trip alone, he is considered to have rowed close enough to Australia to have made the crossing.
[02:38.31]Fellow British citizen John Beeden rowed from San Francisco to the Queensland city of Cairns in 2015.
[02:48.76]He is considered by some to have made the first successful crossing.
[02:52.62]Australian Michelle Lee became the first woman to successfully make the crossing in 2023.
[03:01.83]She rowed from the Mexican coastal city of Ensenada to Port Douglas in Queensland.
[03:09.23]Another Australian, Tom Robinson, attempted to become the youngest to row across the Pacific in 2022. 
[03:17.74]He was 24 years old at the time. 
[03:20.94]During his trip, Robinson took a rest in the Cook Islands.
[03:26.18]He set out from Peru and spent 265 days at sea before he was rescued off the southwestern Pacific nation of Vanuatu in 2023.
[03:38.59]I'm Jill Robbins.